Effectiveness of Copper Minerals Liberation from the Gangue through Application of HRC Press in Copper Ore Processing Circuits

The article concerns investigations over benefits of application of HRC devices into sulphide copper ore processing plant. High pressure comminution appears to be very effective technology in hard ore processing circuits, especially in terms of energy consumption. This can be particularly observed in downstream grinding and beneficiation operations. A series of pilot-scale crushing tests in HRC roller press for various levels of operating pressure, were performed. HRC crushing effectiveness along with downstream grinding process course for each crushing product were also under analysis. The investigations were supplemented by analysis of flotation process effectiveness and impact of the process of high-pressure comminution on environment (dust emission). The results of investigation show that operating pressure level influences the obtained comminution results (comminution degree, yield of finest particle size fractions). The grinding effectiveness, measured through production of the finest particle size fractions was significantly influenced by the operating pressure. The results show that higher values of operating pressure (4.0 and 4.5 N/mm2) are not as efficient within this scope as the pressure 3.5 N/mm2. Dust emission is also correlated with the operating pressure value.